


Old Hollywood Romance

by Senyra93



Category: Twilight (Movies), Twilight Series - All Media Types, Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: Abused Bella, Acting, Adoption, Alternate Universe - Human, Angst and Fluff and Smut, BAMF Bella Swan, Bella Swan with a Backbone, Bisexual Jacob Black, Child Abuse, Childhood Sweethearts, Dark Comedy, Edward Cullen Actor, Edward Cullen Being An Asshole, F/M, Family, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Hollywood, Human Alice Cullen, Human Edward Cullen, Jacob and Edward, Jealousy, Oral Sex, Out of Character Bella Swan, POV Bella Swan, POV Edward Cullen, POV Edward later chapters, POV Female Character, POV First Person, Protective Edward Cullen, Romantic Comedy, Rough Kissing, Rough Sex, Stalking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2021-01-08
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:15:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28261503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Senyra93/pseuds/Senyra93
Summary: Bella is an actress and is more lonely than ever. But when Alice calls and invites her to her wedding, she agrees. After 10 years, she returns home, and they all meet again. Edward is with Tanya from high school, and Bella just broke up with her stalker ex-boyfriend. Edward is confused about Bella leaving 10 years ago and doesn’t know how to treat her. Bella just wants these days to be over so she can return to New York, but all kinds of events happen, and even her ex shows up. What happens if they meet again in Hollywood, working on the same movie? Will Bella be remembered of the child abuse she went through? Will Edward take care of her even though he still feels resentment? What do her ex and Tanya hide from them?Warning: graphic/foul language, abuse, stalking, smut (later chapters).
Relationships: Alice Cullen/Jasper Hale, Carlisle Cullen/Esme Cullen, Edward Cullen/Bella Swan, Emmett Cullen/Rosalie Hale
Kudos: 4





	1. The backstory of it all

The last time I walked through this door, it felt like I was being drawn in. Edward always knew how to cope with my moments of attention or my passive feelings of desperation for him. Those moments were when I hated myself the most, for letting Renee touch me again, for my dad not standing up for me, for my self-control not to slap her back. I hated everything about younger me. She was a weak creature, always looking for comfort from Edward.

I would sneak up to his room and crawl under his blankets, taking in his scent whenever I felt like my life sucked once again. I would cuddle against his warm body and lay my head on his muscular chest; he would raise his arm and wrap it around me. 

Sometimes I stayed there for days, curled up against his bare chest, gripping tightly on him, crying myself to sleep after I was hit again. He would soothe my skin with a cold towel, my skin would burn, and I would hitch back a tear, he would smile at me with his emerald green eyes, and I would forget everything.

My father was the only thing that kept me from leaving the house. Even though he could barely speak or even muster up the courage to do anything at all, he would still smile at me, and sometimes I could even see a hint of regret. The corner of his lips would raise but quickly faint again; he was holding back. He changed from day to night; my tears would not seem to show him my pain. At first, I thought that until I saw his eyes flinch, he even tried to open his mouth from time to time, but no words came out. 

Edward told me that it was just shocking and that some people had a weird way of dealing with certain situations, I never blamed my father for what happened to me, but I blame him for the neglect he left me in.

The reflection of my sleepless face stared back at me from the reflection on the glass door. Dark circles were almost creeping onto my cheek, my chocolate eyes were red like I was on drugs, and my brown hair was messy and greasy. On days like this, I always liked to stay in bed, curl up to my favorite movie, and reflect on my past. 

  
  


I thought a lot about my past and the decisions I made from leaving Forks to begin my New York career. My life has changed so much that it actually scared me sometimes. If you had told me that I would become an actress at twenty-six, almost married twice, and earn thousands of dollars for movies and shows, I would have told that person to have his vitals checked out. Me? The most stubborn person you could find?!

I’ve always wondered what it will be like to come back to him after so many years. Alice had called me occasionally to remind me that I had a life once, right beside her, or even more important, right beside him. 

Most of the time, when I thought about the past, I thought about my feelings for Edward, for how long I’ve denied those feelings and pushed them into an empty place in my heart. Edward was my best friend. He was the only person I trusted. Yes, Alice was my best girl-friend, but nobody could comfort me as Edward did. We were inseparable. 

I don’t even recall meeting Edward. We were three years old when we met and, like Esme called it, connected. We were like twins from the beginning. I saw him like my older brother at first, but that changed at the age of fourteen. I didn’t understand that uneasy feeling in my stomach. Apparently, they were called ‘butterflies.’ 

Every time Edward reached out to me or gave me somewhat of a look, I would feel them, flying around, spreading around my stomach. At first, I thought I was just sick all the time because of the emotional issues I had, but later, after I left forks, everything fell into place when I started missing Edward at moments I actually didn’t feel bad. 

How much I wanted to share the happy news with him when I used only to seek comfort. I was actually used to him being around. Used to pushing my feelings for him away and only being selfish about it. 

My life has changed so much; I went from being the crying-to-sleep girl next door to the big hit actress in New York. I gave up my life in Forks; I gave up everything I had for a chance to be happy even though I’m still trying to figure out what happiness means to me. Sure, I was living in a big house, I drove a nice car and had ‘dated’ male models, but that doesn’t mean that my life is perfect. 

Many people said my lavish dates with the male models were so short and low key that nobody knew what they even were. Of course, I mean, I didn’t even know, so why should they know. I’ve never dated in life. The only affection I’ve had for years was that from Edward. My parents must have loved me in their own weird way, but I didn’t know guys. 

I have to brush up on my scars, so my look to the outside world doesn’t affect my image as an actress, or as my manager says, ‘an example for starting celebs out there,’ whatever that means. I was not perfect in any way, even though many tabloids exposed it as just that. Headlines often stated, ‘The girl who won over Hollywood with her perfect appearance.’ At least they gave my acting credit if they thought I was perfect. 

  
  


The wind played with my hair, and I sighed, taking in a big gulp of air to prepare myself for the things that were about to happen. Would he be happy to see me? That was the only thing I wondered since I left my condo in New York this morning. 

I gently placed my hand on the doorbell, hoping my heart would say to turn around and leave, but why would I run from the past when I did nothing wrong. Okay, maybe I left Edward and Alice, but I gave them a worry-free life without me. 

My mind drifted back to the last day I saw Edward.

**_Spring – ten years ago._ **

“Bella, you have to wake up. We have to go to school”.

I tossed and turned the whole night, and when I was finally able to sleep, there was Edward, tickling my ear with his low whispers.

My seventeen-year-old self was a stubborn person to wake up, and without further attempt, I felt the mattress rising, and his warmth left next to me.

I opened my eyes slowly and let myself get used to sunbeams glinting through his golden curtains. As I pulled myself up and rested on one arm, I let my eyes roam over Edward’s bare chest. As always, his perfections made my jaw drop, and he never once felt embarrassed about it. Why would he anyway? It was just me.

His pants hung loosely around his hips, and as he pulled his white t-shirt over his head, I saw his arm muscles flex. Girls went crazy over him at school; even some girls I hang out with tried to get his number through me. I tried to set up Edward multiple times with some of my friends, like Tanya, she had a crush on him forever, but he always declined politely, saying he wasn’t interested in any of these girls.

Somehow my heart fluttered at the thought that he would spend all his time with me instead of dating one of the hottest girls in school. I knew I was a troublemaker for him, he met my mother on occasion, and she would always speak to him about the values of life and how I should not be wasting my life with a newbie so-called writer/producer.

I rose out of his bed as he walked to the bathroom. I slipped out of my PJ’s and grabbed my black pants and a checkered shirt. My red Dr. Martens boots slipped over my black socks, and I traced Edward to the bathroom.

As he brushed his teeth, he watched my every move. I felt his eyes tracing me down every action I took. There we were, as a married couple, I was combing my hair, and he was brushing his teeth, smiling at me.

His green eyes darted from the mirror to me and back. Those emerald eyes were mesmerizing, and sometimes when I was deep asleep, I felt them on my body, still taking me in like he was watching me at night.

This is our life, normal people would have a daily routine, but the only normal thing I had was running away from home, into Edward’s arms. Just being there made me feel safe.

Sentences like: ‘you’re going to him again?’ or ‘that boy is no good for you’ stung more than my red cheek or my bloody scratches. Who was she to judge over Edward? He was the only one comforting me when times got rough.

“Isabella,” I met Edward’s eyes and moaned a ‘hmm’ at him.

He put his hands under the running water, and before I could stop him, he splashed the water in my face. “You forgot to wash your face,” he said, barely understandable. 

He spits out his toothpaste, threw down his toothbrush, and paced out the bathroom, giggling. 

“You asshole” I laughed after him and wiped the wet drops out of my face with my sleeve. 

“We’re going to be late” I searched for the time, and when I saw it was a bit over eighth, I dropped my brush and grabbed my coat from the door hanger.

“Well, then we better get going.” His lip quirked up at the corner, and he grabbed my hand as he pulled me through the house, outside, and into his shiny Volvo. Another not so bad perk about Edward; he has a wealthy family, so I didn’t feel like an obstacle financially.

His father, Dr. Cullen, was the best doctor you could find. He started his residency in Los Angeles and met his wife Esmé there. When Emmett, Edward’s older brother, was born, they decided they wanted to live in a more quiet area. Moving to forks was the best thing they ever did while raising three children, as Esmé told me many times. 

The day went by pretty quickly. At four P.M., I still had two classes left but had fifteen minutes to spare between them. Even though Edward and I didn’t share any classes, he was always waiting for me at our spot when we knew we had a few minutes to spare. That’s the benefit of comparing each other’s schedules.

I walked through the big white halls and saw Edward leaning against the wall. As I got closer, I saw him talking to someone in the door frame on the other side. A blonde with long legs was standing there, Edward was laughing at something, and when she giggled along, she gently placed her hand on his arm.

A warm feeling spread through me, and I told myself that I was not jealous or angry, but as my cheeks warmed and my feet were stuck to the ground, I was in doubt if I was honest to myself. 

When the girl took a step forward, I noticed Tanya, one of Alice’s friends and a girl I talked to in class now and then. She was considered ‘popular’ and dated multiple guys from school. Rumors were that she even cheated on some of them. She was desperately flirting with him, and for once, Edward was actually letting her. Not once I caught him flirting with a girl. This was the first time, and also the first time I felt threatened.

I watched the play before me. Edward leaned against the walls with one hand and took a step closer to her, his hand was resting against the wall beside her head, and when she tiptoed and curled her lips to his, he replied by kissing her.

My breath got stuck in my throat, and I produced a sound of shock that I never heard before.

The two heads in front of me turned, and I saw Edward’s eyes flicker with mixed emotions.

The glue that stuck to my feet was gone, and I instantly ran out of the school building. I gleaned around the parking lot and ran towards the big trees and high grass. 

The woods were misty and kind of cold for the spring season, my head was pounding, and tears were dried up on my cheeks. I’ve been walking for what seemed like hours, and I didn’t even recognize this part of the woods.

Clearly, I was lost, as well in the woods as with my feelings. Yes, I was jealous of Tanya and somehow angry at Edward. For the first time in my life, I realized what Edward meant to me. He was more than just my safe haven.

Then I realized I was standing in the way of Edward’s future. I’ve been nothing more than an obstacle in his life, a person that was damaged, and I used him to feel comfortable, I used him…

I had to leave and give him a chance at a normal life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading. Please note that my origin country is The Netherlands, so my English might not be perfect in writing. Apologies for any mistakes! Let me know what you think of the story and if you have any ideas. I'll try to upload as much as possible as this is a short chapter story. 
> 
> Thank you to my lovely wifey, MBlack93, for supporting me and feed me motivation through memes, pins, and gifs. <3


	2. Meeting everyone again

Alice’s arms embraced me tightly as she opened the door. She was just like I remembered her, small and perky, her hair was cut shorter than when we were in high school, and her fashion sense was just the same.

“You look so lovely, Bella, better than on the television.” I blushed at her words and bit my lip. I couldn’t get used to these compliments. My personal life had been exposed to the media multiple times. I’ve been stalked, been accused of cheating on my previous boyfriend Graham, been two-timed myself, the only thing they didn’t know of was my past, because let’s be honest, I’ll only get pity votes out of it, but secretly nobody cares about my scars. Still, here, the Cullens, they knew my past so trying to be different was useless.

“It’s great to see you, Alice.” It is great to see her, I’ve been telling myself to call and pretend to be sick actually to get out of coming to Forks, but I had been missing Alice and her family. Until this moment, I didn’t even understand how much I missed them.

I walked inside the house and noticed the big corridor had a new tint of paint, it used to be pale grey before, but it was now spread with a light wooden color, making the house warmer. Black and white frames crossed the hall, and I noticed they were Edward’s work, photos of the family, and pictures of landscapes and different cultures and countries.

Edward was a rookie producer and a very talented photographer. His work was good, but he was always looking for different things to do in multiple industries. I envied that about him. Most of the things he did were familiar in my industry, or well, our industry, I must say. Thankfully we haven’t crossed paths yet. Thankfully Hollywood is big.

“So you ready to be a bridesmaid?” My eyes shot to Alice, and I noticed the smirk on her lips.

“Bridesmaid, Alice? I thought I was just here as a guest. Is this why you had me coming here a few days before the wedding?” Alice nodded and grabbed my hand, dragging me into the living room.

I met Esmé Cullen’s eyes, Alice’s adoptive mother; she was a beautiful woman with dark brown wavy hair and porcelain skin. She had these doe-like eyes that always felt so sincere. The way she spoke, with so much calm around her, was admirable. “Bella,” her soft voice gave me slight shivers, “It’s so good to see you, Bella,” her hand grabbed mine, and she gave me two kisses on my cheeks. I squeezed her hand gently, remembering the warmth of her hands always had given when she used to grab mine.

“Glad to be here,” I replied gently. “It’s been so long,” I whispered, looking around the small changes that have been applied to the house. More photo frames were set up, Alice and her fiancé Jasper, whom I still had to meet but seen pictures of through email, Emmett with a long-haired female who probably was his wife Rosalie that Alice wrote about, and there was Edward, with his father fishing on a boat.

I tried not to stare at the picture as I remember his features all too well. My body moved towards the picture, and without hesitation, I picked up the frame and looked at it. He seemed the same, a little rougher around the edges, a small stubble beard was playing on his face.

I’ve seen him at award ceremonies from afar, but obviously not as comfortable as with his father fishing. His smile was big. This day must have been a good day. I wonder who was the person behind the camera. My finger traced over Edward in the frame, and I realized that I must have looked stupid to Alice and Esme; I quickly placed the frame down and smiled at them.

“Can I place my suitcase somewhere?” Alice nodded. “We had set up the guest room for you.” Alice walked me down the corridor upstairs into one of the bedrooms. It was similar to Edward’s room when he was younger, with a light tint of lavender on the walls and white wooden furniture.

“Oh nice,” I said when I sat down on the bed and bounced up and down with a smirk. Not even the smell of the house had changed. Vanilla with cinnamon, it was like coming home from a long day of work. Comfortable and relaxing.

“I’ll leave you to get ready, we will eat dinner in a few minutes, my parents would like you to join” I nodded and smiled “of course, and I’ll be there in ten.”

Alice smiled and walked to the door. “Alice,” she turned on her heels and stared at me.

“When is Edward coming?” her eyebrows rose to her hairline, and she smiled at me. “I think he will not be here until tomorrow. Why?”

I nodded and smiled “just because…” It seemed like Alice was waiting for an explanation, so I quickly turned the subject around “thank you, Alice, for the invitation and the bridesmaid thing, I know I didn’t seem to be excited about it, but I want you to know I am.”

Alice smirked and nodded, “I know Bella, don’t worry,” she walked off outside the door, leaving me alone in the room.

“Fuck, why am I here?” I whispered to myself as I fell on the mattress. Edward would be here tomorrow; am I excited? Am I nervous? Do I want to see him? Does he want to see me?!

I grabbed my phone out of my pocket and looked at the three missed calls, one from my manager and two from Graham; I pressed the call button and heard the Samsung ring. “Hello?” he answered. Why?

“Graham, it’s me.” I didn’t want to use more words to get this over with. After all, he should be done with me by now, I tried to explain myself a few times about the mishap of the two-timing in the media, but he didn’t let me explain for three weeks; after that, I gave up.

I was his fiancée, and I went to his company to return the ring. That same evening he called to tell me how good I looked and how much he missed me. I told him that I tried to explain but that it’s over now, it couldn’t work anymore. Since that day, which has been over three weeks ago, he’d been calling nearly every day for a chance to meet up.

“Bella baby, I called you twice. Are you on set?” I rolled my eyes at his words. He loved my fame, I mean, he was a wealthy man, owning a design company with his sister as co-owner, but he never got that much media attention than when he was with me.

“No, I’m in my hometown Forks for a couple of days, so maybe it’s better if-“

“Forks? Why?” He cut me off. Of course, he wanted to know why, and I could practically feel him looking through my window every night as he stalked me daily, according to my manager.

“Look, Graham, I told you that I need time to think about the situation, okay? Plus, I need to advise my manager to discuss the issue. My bad behavior, according to the media, is still affecting my career now”. I stared at the ceiling, hoping he would get the hint.

I felt like shit about that whole situation. After all, the bad behavior was all a lie. I didn’t cheat on Graham; as a matter of fact, he cheated on me, sort of.

On the other hand, it felt like he was the only person that cared for me. My manager said it was time to settle as well. People need to look at me as a grown adult and that I should go for it with Graham.

“Bella, starting over, is just the thing to do to recover from that bad reputation.” Graham sighed, and I imagined him frowning and rubbing the skin between his eyebrows. He was right, even though I didn’t want to admit it. I just lost all my confidence in relationships when the media broke this one down so easily. I had to admit, the past with Edward and all didn’t quite help to soothe being insecure about myself.

“Graham, I have to go. As I said, I’ll think about it, give me some time.”

“Jeez, Bella, how much time do you need?” The irritation in his voice was obvious. I shouldn’t let him in the dark like this, but I just wasn’t sure about my feelings. I did care deeply for Graham, but I don’t know if it’s deep enough.

“I’m sorry” I clicked the call away with my last words. He dumped me without even letting me explain the situation, and now he wants me back, but then again, he also kind of cheated on me as he said in his own words, ‘I did it, so we were even now, it was only fair.’ It was confusing because it was the same day we split up. We were together for one year, and a month when James came into the picture, things weren’t well already.

He still didn’t believe me that I didn’t cheat on him, but at least he told me about his shenanigans with Tanya a few days after it happened. I was also so sick and tired of hearing Tanya’s name. First in high school, now with Graham. She knew damn well what the situation was with him, but Graham told her that I didn’t believe the tabloids, so she doesn’t know that I know.

We agreed that I would state to everyone that it was a lie about Graham going with Tanya to prevent any other situations. That way, we’re both denying the breakup as well, so if we get back together, it wouldn’t be a messy situation.

It didn’t feel right to lie, and I just wanted to tell everyone that Graham was the one that actually did wrong, but I felt like I got why Graham did it. James and I were close, and James was also flirting with me on occasion. People do weird things when they are mad or disappointed.

I rose from the bed. I was tired of thinking about the whole situation. My grey suitcase was stuffed with clothing, comfy shoes, and beauty products from sponsors. I opened the bag, got out a green lace dress and some plain black ballerinas, and changed my outfit.

I decided to call my manager real quick before heading out. “Victoria, it’s me” I waited for her silk voice to reply, but I just heard rustling in the background. “Victoria?”

“Bella, darling!” her cheerful voice greeted me. “Hi, I saw you ca-” “I called you, you know that?!” I rolled my eyes and smiled. She was always one step ahead.

“Listen, darling, that part of that teen sparkling movie, you’ve got it!” she squealed with excitement. I was honestly lost and didn’t know how to reply. “That’s good, I guess, wait, which movie was we are talking about?” my confusion was clear.

“That vampire movie, sweetie, what was it again, ‘light’ or something?” she clicked with her tongue. “You went to that audition two weeks ago?” I made the connection as she started about vampires. “You mean the Twilight series?” “Hmh, that one.”

“Listen, love; I got to go, busy day, chit chat, you name it! Congrats, darling, talk to you soon, enjoy your three weeks off!” Click. Of course, she hung up without giving me the chance to reply. Well, at least I got the part. I wasn’t really connecting with the main female lead, but somehow their love story felt intense and pure, and I wanted to experience that. Maybe I will never have that in real life, so let’s try to act it out at least.

When I got downstairs, I was welcomed by Emmett’s huge biceps circling my tiny waist and lifting me in the air. I giggled like a schoolgirl as my feet dangled in the air. “Bells, I missed you,” I grinned at him as he grinned at me. He was always such a happy person. He could always make me smile. “I missed you too, Emmett, now please put me down,” he let me fall to the ground, and I stumbled a bit, almost falling on my face.

“Well, that certainly didn’t change” I met the grin of Carlisle, their adoptive father. “Dr. Cullen, hi!” I walked towards him and also hugged him. “Bella,” Carlisle and I didn’t exchange many words. We didn’t do that in the past either, he was always a quiet but polite man, and I knew that he was more than happy to have me over if I ever faced problems. The bond between him and me was more than just the father of Edward or Alice. It was filled with respect from my side. He grabbed my shoulders and took a glance at me.

“You lost some weight,” I nodded slowly. I knew he didn’t like that. Back in the day, when I lost weight, it was clear that there was more going on than just eating poorly. “Be careful,” I blushed and smiled at him. His intentions were good and sincere; what’s not to love about this man.

We turned to the table, and a dinner of spaghetti bolognese was waiting for me. “Italiano, you’re favorite” I turned to Esmé and smiled at her. “You remembered,” she nodded and returned my smile. Of course, she remembered I always asked for Italian food if they gave me a choice for dinner, they were probably sick and tired of it back in the day, but the Cullens did everything to make me happy.

“Bella, dear, how’s Graham?” What didn’t these people follow the tabloids? “He’s Uhm, fine, I guess, we split up about 3 weeks ago”.

Esme’s eyes narrowed, and she looked concerned and full of questions, but she didn’t ask anything. After a few minutes of silence and cutlery clinking, I decided to answer her questions anyway.

“Some paparazzi said I was seeing another guy named James who I was working with at that time, so Graham broke up with me thinking I was cheating on him, it’s just that nobody knows right now, so if you guys could keep this to yourself. We’re trying to work things out”. I turned my face towards my plate, not wanting to share the looks of concern around the table. The only concern I had was this awkward dinner. Back in the day, it used to be full of laughter and talking, but it seemed like I wasn’t the only one that changed over the past ten years.

I was surprised that they didn’t question me about leaving that day ten years ago. After all, I didn’t speak to them for ten years except for Alice, but that was only because Alice completely knew the story and situation even though she didn’t actually understand my decision I made that day, but she did support me. The only thing I never told her about was my feelings for Edward. Those feelings that I suppressed for many years and shared with no one…

“Well, maybe then he’s no good for you anyway if he can believe the press so easily.” I nodded, simply agreeing with her answer. “He’s a dick anyway. He went with another girl only two days after that.” I looked up to Alice, who winked at me. “Alice! Language!” her mother warned her, pointing her fork at Alice.

“Actually, that was the same situation. The girl was only a model and friend of Graham’s sister Bree, nothing was going on between them, but yeah, that’s the negative press, anything to try to get a reaction out of you.” I lied and spun the spaghetti around my fork and shared a fake smile at Alice. “Plus, I understand that she was already seeing someone, so she was nothing to Graham in a romantic way.”

“How awful,” my glance directed to Carlisle, who now spoke up for the first time, followed by Emmett. “Kick their ass, Bella, I know you can. I’ve seen you kick Edward’s ass.” Everybody looked to Emmett, and he raised a brow. “What? Too random?”

Esme’s look on her face could have written book chapters. Not only was she warning Emmett, but she was also looking apologetic towards me. Did they agree not to talk about Edward in front of me? Or was it for Edward’s sake?

Carlisle shook his head and clicked with his tongue. “Well, Edward had a pudding ass anyway,” I mumbled while chewing on my food.

I looked up to the Cullens and noticed the smiles that spread across their faces, and within a few seconds, we were all laughing out loud. After a minute of laughter, tears were rolling over my cheeks, and my stomach was aching.

“What’s so funny?” The laughter stopped as the voice came from the hallway. My head turned to the familiar silk voice who was entering the dining room, and my eyes met the emerald jade’s of Edward’s, his full bronze hair shining in the jolt of the dim sunlight that crossed the room, and his muscular posture was covered in a blue suit and white blouse.

“Edward,” Alice squealed as she stood up and turned him into a hug, his eyes still on me. I felt a blush creeping up my face and quickly avoided his gaze by looking back to the table. The Cullens rose from their chair one by one to greet their last member of the family, and with heavy knees and sweating hands, I stood up quickly. Unfortunately too quick. I tried to move past Emmett’s chair next to me, but as my foot got stuck behind one of the chair legs, I stumbled right into Edward’s arms.

“Isabella,” a grin spread across his handsome face, and my teenage years spread across my mind, his body encircled around mine, his lips pressed to my temple as he tried to soothe my tears, my cold hands blown warm by his desire-able mouth. Oh God, I am unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him, and it took me ten years to realize it.

“Edward,” I returned his bright grin with an awkward smile. “You always knew how to find a way into my arms.” I gulped the saliva back that was stuck in my throat. His scent was the same, and his muscles were now even bigger. It felt good in his arms but also very out of place. These few days were going to be so long...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading. Please note that my origin country is The Netherlands, so my English might not be perfect in writing. Apologies for any mistakes! Let me know what you think of the story and if you have any ideas. I'll try to upload as much as possible as this is a short chapter story. 
> 
> Thank you to my lovely wifey, MBlack93, for supporting me and feed me motivation through memes, pins, and gifs. <3


	3. Introducing the new you

“Thank you for catching me,” I wiggled myself out of his strong arms and got back on my own two feet. He nodded and turned to his parents greeting them again and giving them something which didn’t catch my eye. I sat down back in my chair and tried to even out my breathing. I didn’t even notice that I forgot to breathe. 

Of course, he had to come in a day sooner, just my luck. I watched Edward as he grabbed a chair and sat across from me. His face got a little rougher over the years, and dark circles were set under his mesmerizing eyes. 

“So how have you been Edward, how was New York?” Esme asked as she sat down a plate of spaghetti for him. New York? My stomach twisted; he’s been in New York all this time? 

“I heard you got to meet a lot of celebs, any hot chicks, brother?” Alice rolled her eyes at Emmett’s words and grabbed Edward’s hand, who sat down next to her, across from me. 

“Yeah, a few. Some of these celeb women are really crazy, though.” I saw Edward’s gaze turning to me, and I tried to ignore his words and look, which were obviously directed towards me. Something about his attitude seemed hostile, but the Edward I knew was always the most gentle person.

He turned back to his family. “Anyway, when I get back, I get to work on this movie called ‘Twilight’ I heard they are aiming for a big familiar cast” my eyes darted to Edward, and while he was not looking at me, I knew he knew exactly what my shock was about. I got the call just now for the main character part for that same movie, which my manager really wanted me to do. 

Even though I had no experience in teenage film, the casting agency told me I would basically get the part because they specifically asked me. They said the piece is perfect for me. 

“Sounds awesome, man” Emmett’s words made me shiver; it’s not awesome; it’s a disaster. How could I work with Edward? How could I possibly survive these couple of days at all? I stared at my hands under the table. I was squeezing them so tight they turned all pale white. 

“Yeah, I got to do some shoots as well as help out with the production. Even though I’ve still only done small works and started as an actor, I think producing is really what I want to do the most. The producer is a friend of mine, so I’m going to help wherever I can,” Edward replied to Emmett.

“Bella-” how could Edward take these things so lightly? He knew I’d be there, they always discuss the cast beforehand, so they know who to work with. Of course, they have to sign a confidentiality agreement, but still, he knew I would work on this film. I was going to be there every day. 

“Bella,” I looked up and met the eyes of everyone around the table. “Ye-Yes,” I stuttered. 

“What’s the next project you’re working on?” I looked at Esme and peaked at Edward in front of me. He was grinning at his plate, pricking his spaghetti.

“I’m not really allowed to talk about it yet, sorry.” Edward looked up to me and his eyes pierced in mine. I could tell what he was thinking. He was teasing me, hoping I would take the bait.

“Well, we won’t tell anyone, Isabella,” he simply said, his grin still locked in place. He was so smug. “Well, I am going for the lead of the movie Edward is going to work on actually” I didn’t show any emotion and stared back at Edward, taking in his challenge.

“You two are going to work together?” Emmett’s words hung in the air, and for a moment, I regretted telling them. Edward’s grin dropped, and his attention turned back to his food. I kind of wondered what was going through his mind right now.

“What is the movie about Bella?” I turned my look to Alice and smiled at her, “It’s about a human girl falling in love with a vampire boy, and there is this whole love triangle with this werewolf boy as well. Apparently, the book series is really famous.”

Edward scoffed, and everybody looked at him. His gaze turned up towards mine, and I saw a hint of hurt? “Like you know how to play that part,” my eyebrows rose, and I frowned deeply.

“Excuse me? What’s that supposed to mean?” I felt anger, and I’m sure it was readable on my face. What was with his attitude?

He started to laugh and rose from the table, placing his hands on it and bowing down to me, “Like you know how to play a part which requires you to fall in love, let’s be honest Bella, you wouldn’t recognize love even if it would slap you in the face.” That certainly felt like a slap in the face.

He rose, straightening his shirt, and left the room, with his words still hanging in the air. I gasped for air as I was holding it from the moment he bowed towards me, his scent was stuck in my throat and his words stuck in my head.

“That son of a - “I looked around the table and saw the concerned eyes of the Cullens. “excuse me,” I hurried out of the room and traced up the stairs looking at my bedroom door. The door after that was slightly open, and I knew exactly what room that was. Mustering up my courage, I dragged my feet towards his room.

I opened the door with a significant gesture, ready to shout at him, and then met his eyes and his bare upper body. “I-” my face became red, and I turned around quickly. I let out a sigh and tried to get back that courageous feeling I had a moment ago. “Why are you so terrible to me?” there, I said it, against the bedroom door though. Excellent work, Bella. You really put him on the spot there. I rolled my eyes at my own thoughts.

I heard a snort behind me and footsteps getting closer, he grabbed my shoulder, turned me around to face him, I tried to look away from his eyes but looking at his bare chest didn’t make it much better, so I just stared at my feet, biting my lip. 

“I’m terrible against you? For God’s sake Bella, you’re so stupid, you know that” He sighed, and when I looked up, he was walking to his closet and disappeared. “I’m stupid? What’s with that attitude Edward, that’s not the Edward I knew ten years ago”.

There was a moment of silence, and I wondered if he even heard me. After a few seconds, when I was about to leave, he came out, wearing a grey shirt, some sweatpants, and his face wearing anger, his eyes were darker than usual, and for a moment I wanted to run away as I did ten years ago.

“You’re fucking kidding me, right?” My eyebrow darted up as he cursed again. “You want to talk about that? Sure, Bella, I’ll play your little game,” he said as he pointed at me and his finger twirled a small circle. “You left me, remember?” He came closer to me and closed the distance between him and me. I was now pressed against the wall of his bedroom.

“You left me, without one single word, you played me, and I have an attitude? So what if you’re a big shot actress now and live in a big house? Do you know who got you there? Me!” I opened my mouth to protest, but I didn’t even know what to say. 

His warm breath was against my face. His eyes were filled with all kinds of emotions, and for a second, I was glad the wall was behind me. I would have fallen over with his body and face so close to mine. 

As he looked at me, my body heated up. I’ve never seen this Edward before. “That’s what I thought. Now would you leave me alone? Unless you want to sleep in my bed again, or you only sleep in the bed of those models?” His cockiness was going too far. He had no reason to treat me like this. Of course, I get he’s a bit angry, but this was going too far.

“As you sleep with everyone? I saw the tabloids Edward, you’re a womanizer”. He scoffed and then laughed, bowing back from me, creating more space between us. My hands were sweaty again, and I felt my body shiver trying to suppress every emotion I felt. At this moment, I didn’t even know if I wanted to jump him or slap him. 

“At least I don’t have to sleep with someone to make me feel better about my past.” Anger burned up inside of me, and before I knew it, my hand spread across his cheek, and I ran out, tears slowly forming in my eyes.

When I reached my bedroom, I shut my door and leaned against it, quietly sobbing into the palms of my hands. I thought that Edward would have forgiven me by now. Clearly, he still holds a grudge since the day I left. 

I tried to convince myself that I did nothing wrong so many times. That I did everything for his sake. Who would want a damaged girl hanging around their neck anyway? Plus, we both have built a life, both filled with glamour and parties, and the pictures at the tabloids proved Edward was a fan of it every day. He was always partying, and some photos were even a little too exclusive. A lot of them involved Tanya from high school licking his face or feeding him shots.

Which made me even angrier at some points. Not only had Tanya crushed me in high school, but apparently, she could do the same even ten years later. She appeared with Edward at the Emmys a few months ago, the same Emmys I attended with my co-star James when they thought I was cheating on Graham. 

Graham knew how much I hated Tanya, not for the real reason, though. After we split up, he got with Tanya to try to make me jealous, but Graham told me, and to be honest, I couldn’t care less at that moment, the only reason I hated Tanya so badly was because of Edward. Graham told me she was too hung up on some high school crush and that she didn’t want to go out with him because of that. 

I understood Graham’s anger with me. It must have been the same anger I faced ten years ago; that’s why I forgave him. After all, I did love Graham at some point.

“Bella?” I heard a soft knock on the other side of the door, and my chains of thoughts were broken. I wiped my cheeks, fixed my hair a bit, and put on a smile. I opened the door to Alice, and she looked concerned.

“Are you okay?” I kept my smile in place as I nodded. “Are you sure? Edward was pretty harsh on you”. Well, that’s an understatement.

“I’m fine, Alice, don’t worry, I think I’ll go to bed early if you don’t mind,” she nodded and left into the hallway. I closed the door behind her when she left. 

I sat on the bed and replayed the whole day in my head, it was only nine PM, and I was so tired. My hand was glowing from the slap I gave Edward. My body was hot and cold at the same time. All these emotions are clearly not good for your body.

I stripped off my clothes and changed into a black, little silk dress to sleep in. As I crawled under the blankets and smelled the lavender sheets, I felt my head getting heavy, great now I got a headache too… 

I woke up around three AM, my mouth was dry, and luckily the headache was gone. I rose out of bed, and chills spread over my body. I instantly regretted getting out of the warm bed. 

I tiptoed towards the door and opened it, glancing around each corner to check if there was nobody there. No lights were on except a dim light downstairs. The Cullens always let light on because Edward is a light sleeper and occasionally got out of bed, funny that such a habit was still there after so many years.

I walked downstairs down the wooden stairs and turned the corner into the kitchen. The huge island kitchen was filled with a little light, enough to see where I was going. I reached to the upper cupboard and got out a glass to fill it with water, leaned against the island’s counter, and took a big gulp of the freshwater. My dry mouth was pleased with the cold water. It even tasted better than in New York.

I closed my eyes and enjoyed every second of the silence. I loved being on my own. It had served me well over the past years. “Well, that’s a sight” I jumped and opened my eyes to find Edward leaning on the other side of the counter. My heart was racing as he scared me. “God Edward, you scared the crap out of me!” I tried to say in hard whispers. 

His eyes traced over my body from my boobs to my legs and I felt kind of exposed. Even though Edward had seen me in fewer clothes, the little black dress was indeed revealing. “Can I help you, Edward?” his eyes shot back to mine, and he grinned. “Well, I don’t know, Isabella, can you?” What was with this mood swing? He was shouting at me a few hours ago, and I could still see the redness of my slap across his cheek. 

I turned around to the sink and placed my glass under the crane, filling it again with a bit more water. I nearly jumped as I felt Edward standing behind me, I felt his warmth, and I could smell his scent. I was afraid to turn around and meet him so close. His body was pressing against me, and for a second, I imagined him bending me over and taking me in his parent’s kitchen. 

His hand touched my shoulder and rose towards my neckline, lifting my hair from my neck and slowly placing every single hair over my other shoulder. My neck was exposed to him now, and before I could do anything, I felt his mouth trace my neckline. I closed my eyes to the sensation. His lips were soft and smooth as he gently pressed them against my skin. I had goosebumps all over my body, and I let out a deep sigh. Why was I enjoying this so much? And a more important question: why was he doing this? 

I opened my eyes and turned quickly. I had to end this right here and now, and when I wanted to push him away, Edward took a step back and looked at me intensely. In the dim light, he was just a perfect silhouette. I grabbed the counter behind me with my right hand to steady myself as I tried to even out my breathing. A grin formed on his lips again, and as I opened my mouth to say something, but he spoke before me. “I’ve wanted to do that since that day at the Emmys.” 

My eyebrows rose, and I remembered that day, I was wearing a tight, long black dress and he was sitting on the right side of the audience, wearing a black tux, as I was rewarded with an Emmy and got on stage I met his eyes, words were stuck in my throat. I simply thanked everyone who supported me and left the stage in a hurry, not seeing him another time that day. I would never get used to the feeling of people watching me in real life. On-screen, it’s different from when you’re talking to a big crowd of people such as the Emmys. But it’s even worse when the eyes of your high school crush are on you. 

“What is this, Edward, one minute you’re shouting at me, being a jerk and trying to hurt my feelings, and the next-” I lowered my voice, remembering that we weren’t alone in the house, “you’re kissing my neck?”.

“Oh please, look at you, it’s not like you didn’t enjoy it. You played with me Bella, I think it’s my turn to play with you”. He walked off with a smug smile on his face, and I could hear his footsteps tracing up the staircase. 

I buried my face in my hands and felt the warmth of my cheeks. I must have looked flustered. So this was the situation I was in. Edward would treat me different every time, I tried to unravel his words to myself in my head, but it didn’t make sense. I didn’t play with him like this, so what was he talking about? I sighed and dragged my feet to the staircase, trying to go and get some sleep again.

I tossed and turned that night, trying to figure out what Edward meant with his words earlier. If we were going to work together for a couple of months in New York, we had to find common ground in dealing with each other. But for now, that didn’t really feel like an option with his attitude. 

Hopefully, he can be more professional once we are filming. I turned once again, and my eyes got heavier. I closed my eyes and let myself drift off to a world that allowed me to escape from Edward in just a few minutes. 

XXX

As the new day came, I felt even more anxious than when I first arrived at the Cullens’ house. I knew seeing Edward again would have been difficult, but I wasn’t prepared for the feelings that came back from the past along with it. 

I remember my dream, Edward and I being in high school, laughing over some stupid remark I made about this kid Mike Newton. Who was flirting with every girl he came across. If you were into the whole cute nerd kind of thing, that was fine, but he did not represent himself well.

Even though I hardly got involved with other people, I knew a lot about everyone in the school. That’s the advantage of being in the background. People don’t notice you, and that way, it’s easy to hear the conversation. As well as that, Edward was very popular and would share a lot. Me being in Edward’s good grace made me somehow harmless. 

Mike wanted to be in Edward’s good grace so severely that he made a fool of himself so many times. Not that we were bullying him, but we had a few good laughs about it. That’s how we would spend our minutes between classes together. Talking about recent things at school or classes. Edward never let me talk about things at home as he knew I would just avoid the subject. 

Dreams led to my past many times, also in nightmare form when I thought about my parents. I miss my dad terribly. When he died a few years ago, nobody knew. I told nobody as I was his legal guardian by then.

He lived with me for a couple of years in New York. After my mom decided that she didn’t want to take care of him anymore and already saw someone else, those dreams were the worst out of all. They were so recent that the hurt would still hit me. So it was nice to have a casual dream for once. 

My endless thoughts were broken with Alice bursting through the bedroom door. “Good morning Bella.”

I smiled at her gently. “Good morning Alice. What’s this so early in the morning?” I pointed at the dress bag she was holding. 

She smirked, “Bella, I picked a few dresses for you. I basically took the initiative to guess your size and order a few dresses where you would look fabulous in.” 

I rolled my eyes. Of course, she would just order some dresses, knowing my size. “You know my size is not the same as ten years ago, right?”

“Well, you’re just as small, and most of the dresses have a way to adjust them so you can just size them in or up.” She left the dresses on the chair that was standing in the room. “Either way, you’ll rock them. If you need any help, let me know. Please pick one, so I can hand these to Tanya.”

She turned and then came back. “Oh, here,” she placed a small paper bag on the table as well. “Breakfast.” She said with a huge smile. 

“Tanya?” Alice looked at me, surprised. “Yes, Bella. Tanya? You know from high school, Edward’s girlfriend?” I opened my mouth to say a lot of things but ended up saying nothing. 

“O, I’m sorry, I forgot that whole thing with Graham happened. Well, it’s fine, right? You said the tabloids made up that whole story?” She gave me an awkward smile and put down the dresses on the bed. 

“Besides, that’s a few weeks ago now, we’re all fine, and we’re excited Edward is finally bringing a girl home, so funny that it happens to be our high school friend, right?” 

So once again, Tanya was here to ruin my life? First high school, then the fling with Graham even though the outside world thought it wasn’t true, and now with Edward? This is a nightmare. 

“Yes, I’m sure everything will be fine,” I said, as fake as possible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading. Please note that my origin country is The Netherlands, so my English might not be perfect in writing. Apologies for any mistakes!   
> Longer chapter then usual. Got a few more ready soon. Let me know what you think!


	4. Confused and an absurd ex

From the three dresses she brought in, I liked the one I was wearing now the most. It was an emerald green dress that was straight to the ground, almost too long to walk in. Huge straps were crossing from the front to the back. Some small glittering beadings around the waist. It was elegant and didn't show too much skin. For a fall look, it was perfect.

Since Alice and Jasper were getting married in the forest, the color made sense. I put my hair up with one pin to decide how to wear it. The light makeup that I was already wearing gave me that classic bridesmaid look I was going for.

The door opened behind me, and I saw Edward entering the room from the mirror. He was wearing a grey suit with an emerald green bowtie, which matched my dress perfectly. The white blouse was hugging his figure, and he was holding his jacket with one hand over his shoulder.

He shaved off the light beard that he had when he entered the house yesterday; I still felt that same beard stubble on my skin from his lips' light brush on my neck. As the memory of yesterday shot back to my recollection, I felt my cheeks getting warm.

I turned to him as I saw him gaping at me. Did I see affection or lust? His gaze shifted to my eyes. "You look-" I put my finger up. "Don't, Edward, you don't have to please me. I know now what you think of me. Honestly, I don't blame you since I left you. I get that you feel some hatred, but I'm sorry."

I searched his face for any type of emotion as I was talking. "I hope you can accept my apology so we can both move on and work on this movie together. We _have_ to work together. You know that better than anyone." I sighed after all the words were out. I had been thinking about how to put it ever since he's been around me. His emotion didn't change, and I couldn't place what the feeling was.

He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "Listen, Bella, tomorrow is not about me. It's about Alice and Jasper, she's my little sister, and you broke her heart as well when you left; if you need to apologize to anyone, it's her. I'm the least of your concerns, right? I've always been."

I bit my lip. "That's not true, Edward. Yes, Alice and I were such good friends, but you were always my favorite person to be around. You made me feel things I never felt before, and I regret hurting you." I looked at my hands that I dropped down in front of my body.

I saw him taking a step forward. "Isabella," he said in a soft whisper. I met his eyes and saw a glint of hurt again. "I-, You-" He sighed again and stomped his feet like a little child "dammit," he cursed.

He bit his lip and looked at the bedroom door as the doorbell rang. "That must be Tanya. I better finish this tux fitting and get downstairs." With those words hanging in the air, he left the room. I nodded. I understood. He didn't care about what I did ten years ago; he was with Tanya now. He just wanted me to make up with Alice.

I took in a big gulp of air and raised my back—time _to apologize to Alice_. I lifted the dress with one hand and walked out of the room. "Alice?" I searched for her.

"Downstairs, Bella!" I walked to the stairs. "Is it okay if I walk downstairs in the dress, though?" her face appeared at the bottom, and she squealed. "OMG, you look SO good!" I smiled and blushed. Alice was such a genuine person.

"Well, you have an exquisite taste, so that makes up for it." She stuck out her tongue and traced the stairs up to me. "Well, only such a hot person can pull this dress off. I knew you would pick this one." _Of course, she did…_

She grabbed my hand and dragged me to the bedroom I was staying in. She twirled me around. "Hmm, looks good, doesn't need any adjustments, right?" With Edward walking into the room, I didn't even evaluate the whole dress yet. "It fits well, I guess." She nodded, agreeing with my words.

"Want me to help you take it off?" I shake my head, "it's fine, Alice, but I do want to talk to you for a bit, so maybe you can stay?" she nodded and sat down on the bed.

"Is this about Edward, I know he's a douche sometimes, Bella, but his heart is in the right place." I smiled, of course, she was worried about that.

"Edward is a good guy, Alice, if anybody knows that it's me." she smiled and sighed, "good, you had me worried there for a second. You guys are okay, right?" I frowned.

"Yes, we're okay, I guess. Edward and I haven't talked for ten years. Alice, it's a bit awkward. Please give me some time to try to be normal in this situation."

"Take all the time you need. I know Edward hurt you when Tanya was hitting on him that day" I raised my brows and looked confused. That day?

"I was there, Bella, in high school," she answered my thought. "I was right behind you when you ran off crying; you probably didn't notice me. I know-" she bit her lip. "Know what?" I sat down on the chair across the room as I was replying that day in my head, and she was speaking.

"I know you loved him then." She closed her eyes when she said it, like ripping off a bandage. I sighed. Of course, she knew; she was my closest friend next to Edward. How could she not… does that mean he knew too? My eyes grew wide thinking about it. If Edward knew then now, he knows that as well...

"He doesn't, Bella." I looked at her, confused. "He doesn't know, he never did, and he never will; besides, we're ten years along. It's all long past us, right?" Her sad look, which she had earlier turned to a dazzling smile.

"You're right, Alice," I returned her smile feeling very unsure about my words. Was I over it tho? I thought I was until I saw Edward, and my stomach began to flutter again and not just my stomach…

Alice stood up, straightened her dress, and smiled at me again. "I'm going downstairs to meet Tanya. You coming with me?" I nodded. "Let me get out of this dress first, and I will come downstairs." She pouted her lips, opened her arms, and hugged me tightly. "I missed you," she whispered. "I've missed you too," I answered as I returned her hug. After a minute, she let go, turned on her heel, and paced out the room.

I heard distinct laughter downstairs when I was walking towards the stairs. I put on some comfy black jeans and a purple sweater and decided not to try too hard, retouched my make up a bit to at least look like the person people are used to on tv. It was just Tanya, I kept telling myself. Even though I was holding this red, showing off skin dress for ten minutes, figuring if I should compete it up but then I decided it was silly. After all, there was nothing to compete for.

I walked downstairs and saw a lot of familiar faces as well as new faces. I recognized Jasper standing next to Alice from the photos and Rosalie, who was absolutely stunning, next to Emmett. She was whispering something in Emmett's ear, and he grinned wide.

Everyone smiled as I entered the room except for all the new faces. I didn't see Edward or Tanya anywhere, so I was already feeling much more comfortable. I reached for Jasper's hand as he walked up to me. "Nice to meet you in person Bella, I'm Jasper." I greeted him, "hi Jasper, so you're the lucky one." He smiled politely. "Yes, ma'am." He said with the happiest grin I ever saw. Alice poked his side and kissed him on the cheek, replying with even a brighter grin.

I turned to Rosalie and walked up to her. I put up my hand to greet her, she just looked at it, and I dropped it slightly. "Uh hi, Rosalie, right? Emmett told me a lot about you." I said.

Emmett frowned, but then Rosalie smiled and took my hand. "I hope all good things," she said with a little purr at the end. Emmett smirked and winked at me. Clearly, he knew I was saying that to get in her graze as she apparently felt insecure or something. I bet Emmett spoke about me before because that was the kind of person he is. Maybe Rosalie was a bit of the jealous type. She seems more intimidating than me, though.

"All good things, don't worry." She dropped my hand and looked up to Emmett, clearly both ridiculous in love.

"Oh my, Bella Swan?" I turned to the familiar voice with a fake smile. "Tanya!" I said with a smile as I studied her; she didn't change a bit now that I saw her up close; instead, from afar, she still looked like a snob, only older. "It's so good to see you," I said as Edward entered the door. He scoffed and laughed slightly.

Tanya turned to him, "What's so funny?". He grinned at me, "nothing, I just reminded myself that Bella is an actress." I glanced at him with one brow raised, knowing what he meant.

"Oh Eddie, you have such a bad memory," Tanya said as she poked him and giggled faintly.

_Eddie?_ I snorted at the little nickname. "Yes, _Eddie,_ you clearly do have a bad memory," I smirked once I saw his smirk drop and the center of his brow narrowed. , clearly not amused.

Tanya then turned me into a hug. "You know I'm so glad we got to meet again; I can't get over this thing with Graham. Which was obvs a lie as you know, Bella."

I bit the inner side of my cheek as I tried not to show my emotions. I knew it wasn't a lie because she actually did sleep with Graham. Graham should have told Tanya that I knew, now it's just more awkward for me, especially since she is dating Edward for such a short period. I didn't get why Edward would bring a girl here that he just started dating. It's been like three weeks since she had sex with Graham? They must be dating for only two weeks now or so?

"It's so good that you guys are getting back together tho!" I raised my brow as she continued talking. "When is he arriving anyway? He said he would be here around one as well." What? How did she know we split up, and we're not getting back together? What is she talking about?

I tried to comprehend everything she was saying, but not one thing made sense. "Graham is not coming, Tanya," I interrupted her. She looked at me, confused. "Yes, he is, he called me a few days ago, and we spoke about it for a bit, and we realized how much of a coincidence it was that we would both be here, so he asked for the address because apparently, he couldn't reach you." I opened my mouth to say something, but I couldn't even comprehend what was going on.

Her phone was suddenly in my face, a conversation with Graham and indeed the Cullens' address in the chat history. We spoke on the phone yesterday evening, and he didn't mention anything. He even asked if I was on set or not.

I don't know what went wrong, but suddenly I was choking on my own saliva as I swallowed but lost complete control of my body. I was coughing insanely, and I felt my face burning while being angry. Did Graham really manage to get the address? Is he really going to come here?

Alice was patting my back, Esme was with a glass of water in front of me, and Emmett kept asking what was wrong. I heard Edward faintly talking to Tanya. "What did you do?" "I don't know," she replied with a stressed-out voice.

Dr. Carlisle was clearly confused as he just simply said, "I don't get it, isn't that Graham guy Bella's boyfriend?"

I raised my hand at his words and was finally done coughing. "He's my ex-boyfriend" Tanya turned to me and was clearly surprised. "Ex?" I nodded at her question, still trying to catch my breath.

"For fucks sake," I swore when everything in my body had settled down. Esme shot me a look, "Sorry, Esme." She nodded and smiled, accepting my apology for swearing, clearly proud of me.

The doorbell rang, and every head turned to me. I threw my hands in the air and walked outside. I needed some fresh air before I confronted my stupid ex.

The soft autumn breeze gave me fresh energy. I loved autumn, but the current setting was kind of ruining the enjoyment. The commotion inside was hearable even though I tried to shut it out as much as possible.

Graham finally got what he wanted, a way back inside. This time in a situation, I could no longer avoid. I'm not going to make a scene while it's Alice's special moment. More family members would be arriving in the next few days. This wasn't the moment. _You're an actress Bella, a bloody good one. You should be able to pull this off until the wedding is over._

I sighed; who was I kidding anyway? They all knew what was going on, except for poor Carlisle…

I stared down at the big garden of the Cullens. Everything for the wedding was already set up.

The giant tree was filled with lights. There was a long table with lanterns and autumn colored flowers. The chairs were also decorated with flowers, and they were the kind of wood you would find in a forest. Lots of light pink touches everywhere made the whole scenery complete. I honestly couldn't wait to see the entire thing with the lights on. I smiled as I realized how special this day was going to be for Alice.

A familiar figure stepped next to me, in the corner of my eyes. I could see it was Edward. We stood there next to each other for a couple of minutes; while everyone in the house dealt with the whole Graham situation.

"I didn't know Tanya gave him the details," he suddenly spoke after what seemed like ages. I raised my brows, still looking at the trees and leaves playing in the wind. "It's fine Edward, this is not in any way your fault, so don't feel like you're responsible."

He sighed deeply like some weight was lifted from his shoulders. "I've been together with Tanya for a couple of months now, and I had no idea she even knew Graham."

I looked up to him, surprised. "How long have you guys been dating?" he tapped his chin, thinking and counting in his head.

"I think for like four months now." I bit my lip and avoided Edward's eyes, turning back to the garden. If they were together for that long and Edward didn't know they had sex, then he isn't aware that Tanya cheated on him, or are they just casual like that?

"I mean, I read the tabloids, but I just thought that was a made-up story mainly about you; they just found Tanya an easy target as she said it. As you know, the model world is a bit rough. I remember mentioning the paper to Tanya, and she said she didn't even know you two were involved, so I just assumed she barely knew the guy".

I nodded, understanding his idea of Tanya avoiding the subject. He was in the dark about the whole situation. Graham and I had been dating for longer than a year when Tanya stepped into the picture. I forgave him at first because I thought that I was a hard person to deal with, which only made sense.

Now that I know that Tanya was in a relationship and with Edward, it made things worse. Graham knew exactly who Edward was, I've told him details about the past, not everything, but he must have been able to put the pieces together. When Graham said she was still hung up on her high school sweetheart, I didn't expect Tanya to mean Edward and that they were actually dating.

My head was pounding. Poor Edward, even though we've been on a rough patch since last night, he doesn't deserve this. He's always been the right guy, and I bet he's a great lover as well. Why would you then pick someone like Graham? I suddenly wondered what the full story there was.

"I'm going to head back inside. Need some support or maybe an escape route out of here? I can sneak you off through the garage door" He smirked at me, and I felt a smile playing on my lips.

"Thank you, Edward, that's very sweet, but sometimes, you gotta face your demons" his brows raised as I said that. I bit my lip and decided to be confident. _This wasn't the time to show your weaknesses, Bella._

"Well, I must say, you did change" my confidence ebbed away, and I looked at Edward with surprise.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Isabella, it's a first you're not running away; I don't mean to sound harsh, it's just not what I'm used to." His eyebrows were raised as he was still trying to figure it out. He looked kind of adorable at it.

I smiled at his honest words. He still knew me better than anyone.

"Demons, huh?" He asked; I nodded to reply to him. "Sounds like fun to me." We both smirked at each other as he spoke those words.

I gulped in a fresh mouthful of air and turned to the oversized patio door. Once I began walking to the ways, I heard multiple voices, which sounded like Emmett was questioning Graham's motives.

"So why are you here, man? My little sister didn't even invite you, neither did Bella". Poor Graham, attacked by Emmett as the big brother of us both.

I got inside and decided to just try to act normal. "Emmett, it's okay." All heads turned to me, and when Emmett stepped to the side, I saw the familiar face of my ex-fiance indeed. "Bella, there you are. It's like the FBI in here. Is this your family or something?"

"This is her family." I opened my mouth to reply, but Edward replied for me. I didn't even hear him coming in after me, but he was standing right behind me and winked at me.


	5. Family, maybe broken, but still a family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kind of losing the touch for this story, let me know if you're still into this or how you want to see the character development at this point.

Graham raised a brow, clearly unimpressed by Edward's statements. "Well, you should introduce me; I want to meet your family." I gulped. They weren't my family. Why did Edward say that?

Edward and I had a conversation through looks, I was telling him with my eyes to solve the issue, and he was nodding me forward. Edward made the whole situation even more complicated.

I turned back to Graham and put a hand through my hair as I sighed. "Look, Graham-" "Hi, I'm Alice" Alice took a step forward to Graham and interrupted me. I looked at her, and she nodded with a raised brow. Was she asking for permission or something? I bounced back to her to do her thing.

"I'm Bella's sister," she said as she took his hand. Graham's confusion disappeared, and he smiled at Alice. "I didn't know Bella had a sister," he said while he smiled at me. 

"Well, I'm Emmett, the brother" Emmett crossed his arms and kind of hovered over him as Graham was definitely a lot smaller than he is. Esme, Carlisle, Jasper, Rosalie, and Tanya all exchanged confused looks. 

"Ahem" Edward walked past me and offered his hand to Graham. "I'm Edward Cullen; it's nice to meet you," Edward said, as composed as always. Graham took Edward's hand and smiled weirdly at him. He almost seemed dazzled. Edward looked at his mother and reached out his arm. "These are our parents, Carlisle and Esme Cullen." Esme looked confused, but Carlisle took a step forward, dragging her along. This was probably the first time Carlisle understood the situation.

Graham turned to Esme and Carlisle, "I love your house, misses Cullen." He took both their hands and shook them with great enthusiasm. "Thank you, dear," Esme replied. 

"Cullen-" He tapped his chin as he was solving a math quiz. "Your name is Swan tho," Graham pointed out. _Shit._

Carlisle took a step forward. "We took Bella in when her parents couldn't take care of her anymore. But yes, she's our family," Graham nodded. 

"I didn't know you were adopted, sweetie, so much to learn." All the other members in the room were still perplexed.

Graham exchanged a look with Tanya, and she raised her shoulders. I looked at Edward as he was looking at the exchange between his girlfriend and my ex. 

Did Edward notice that there was more going on? I kind of hoped he would figure the whole situation out on his own.

Jasper and Rosalie introduced themself as Alice and Emmett's spouses, and then he came walking up to me. "Bella, I missed you." He gave me a kiss on the cheek and put his arm around my waist. I kind of cringed at the feeling but smiled politely at him. 

"Did you store your stuff yet?" I asked him to change the subject. 

"No, maybe you can show me to our room?" 

"I-" Fuck, how will I get out of this situation now?

"I'll show you; Bella was just discussing something with my mom about the wedding." Alice stepped forward and saved me. I'll deal with the whole room thing later, but I just didn't want to be alone with him already. He nodded and traced Alice with his suitcase to the hallway. 

I let out air and saw Tanya come up next to me. The rest of the family was heading outside, probably discussing the whole situation but clearly didn't want Graham or me to hear it.

"I'm sorry about this Bella, we've been such good friends in high school. Hopefully, this won't come between us?" she batted her eyelashes at me. I was so done with her being phony. 

"Listen, Tanya, I'm sure you mean well, but let's be honest here. The only reason you wanted to be my friend in high school is so that you could suck up to Edward." She raised a brow and opened her mouth, but I wasn't done with my repartee just yet. "Now that you have him, you decide to have sex with my fiance, which was then my ex, but you knew damn well who he was and what the situation was." I saw her look getting offensive as she took a step back.

"You can have Graham if you want him. I'm done with him. I'm just trying to get through these days for Alice, but I advise you to treat Edward as he deserves. If you don't, your little secret will be out." She raised a finger to interrupt me, but I continued, "don't think for one second you're able to slither your way out of this. Graham told me about the sex in the hotel after he dumped me, and don't think that I won't tell Edward if you fuck this up. Edward deserves better, so you better go out of your way to treat him like a god." 

When I was done with the whole speech, I brushed past her. Slightly hitting her shoulder with my leave. 

I traced the stairs up as Alice was coming down. She touched my hand as she passed me and gave me a bright smile with her fist high in the air. I smiled back at her and raised my fist as well. _I got this._

When I opened the door, Graham was placing his suitcase on the bed. He turned to me and smiled. "Bella, dear" I put my finger up to shut him up.

"What the fuck Graham?" I couldn't ask him a specific question; I had so many problems that I decided to swear globally. 

"Oh, come on, Bella, you know you missed me" I rolled my eyes and closed the door behind me. If this got out of hand, I would not forgive myself for ruining Alice's special week. I came here to celebrate, and I intend to do just that. It's been forever since I saw the Cullens, or well my family, Graham wasn't going to ruin that.

I felt his hand on mine all of a sudden, and my first instinct was to pull back. Once he noticed, he immediately grabbed my hand tighter so I couldn't pull away. I looked him straight in the face and didn't even see how close he was until now. His eyes said something dangerous, but I couldn't quite place the emotion.

I narrowed my eyes at him; what was his intention? I felt fear suddenly creeping up my whole body. Graham wasn't an aggressive person; maybe he could be a bit clingy, but bold wasn't a word I would use to describe Graham and his personality. 

He looked down at our hands holding, and a smirk played on his lips. "Bella, you know I love you, right?" When he looked at me, I saw the sincerity in his eyes. Of course, I knew that but was this love, though? We're destroying each other. 

"I know that, Graham, but I don't think our relationship is healthy. Would you say that?" I managed to pull my hand back as I noticed his grip fading. He nodded and walked to the bed, sat down, and patted the mattress next to him. "Let's talk." 

When I sat next to him on the bed, I noticed he was sad, I could feel it by how his body was tense, and I could see it on his face. Graham was always an outgoing guy, so seeing him a bit down was undoubtedly out of his comfort zone. 

"Graham, we're messing up, we both messed up somehow. I just don't get why you lied to me about coming here and why you're here at all, to be honest". I looked up to him as he looked up to me. He sighed deeply and pinched the skin right above his nose with his thumb and index finger. 

"Like I said, Bella, I love you, I would do anything for you, why don't you see that?" His voice was cracking, and when he looked at me again, I could see a glistening of tears playing in the corner of his eyes. 

"I know that, like I said, but I think this is going a bit too far, don't you? As well as with Tanya being here and telling me that you're coming because apparently, you guys are still contacting each other."

He bit his lip and didn't respond. "I thought you made sure that you and Tanya were no longer involved with each other? I get that she models for your sister, but that doesn't mean you have to text with her in your free time. You tell me you want nothing to do with her, and then she shows me that you guys text about our personal life."

He stood up, paced through the bedroom back and forth in front of me, not replying to me for one moment. I stood up as well and got in front of him. He stopped and looked outside of the window. I traced his eyes to the same view. 

The Cullens and partners were all in the garden; Alice was directing some of them. When that girl knew what she wanted, she would make that very clear, and the way Alice was pointing fingers and talking to her family members seemed like she had everything under control. 

"Your sister is getting married?" He suddenly asked. "Alice is, to Jasper," I replied. He nodded and hummed something that I couldn't quite make out. "Why wouldn't you tell me that your sister is getting married, you've never spoken about your family before, and they seem lovely." He kept looking outside as he spoke. 

"Well, it's a long story, but I haven't seen them for ten years, so that's why I didn't tell you. I still wasn't even sure if I was going to come". Which was the actual truth.

"That's what you do, don't you?" He looked at me with a stern look, I was a bit confused about what he meant, but then he continued his sentence. "You run away from everything, don't you?"

I felt insulted as the words hit right into my heart. Maybe Graham was right about that ten years ago, but it wasn't the same now. "You mean I'm running from the fact that you broke up with me and also cheated on me?" I raised my brows. "I did nothing wrong, Graham. I told you that James and I were just co-workers many times. You made the decisions regarding your revenge and our break up, not me!"

I tried so hard no to shout at him as words kept coming out of my mouth. "Sure, Bella, everybody knew what was going on between you and James. You're just such a good actress that you can't even tell what is real or whatnot." 

I took a step back when he insulted me again, not wanting to slap him like I struck Edward yesterday. What is it with this house getting on my nerves, or rather the people currently in it? "Listen, Graham, I'm not going to do this again. We can either enjoy these few days here and act normal, or you can leave; it's up to you."

As I tried to turn away from him, he grabbed my upper arm tightly. Too tight, I felt the blood rushing through my veins as he held me firm. 

"Don't make me leave, Bella" he looked at me from under his eyelashes. Somehow his glare made me feel scared. I shook my head in disbelief; he was actually threatening me. 

"Or what, Graham? Are you going to break up with me or sleep with some random girl? Been there, done that." I rolled my eyes at him; I shouldn't show to him that I was scared, so I might as well act tough. 

"Don't play that game Bella, you have no idea what I'm capable of, and I'm getting pretty tired of your behavior." I frowned deeply. He is actually threatening me—the nerve of this guy. 

"Listen, Bella, we're just going to do this whole wedding crap thing. You and I will sleep in the same bed as we did, and once we get home - to _our_ apartment, we will settle this." I left the apartment in New York that we both owned right after telling me he slept with Tanya. I didn't feel the need to talk things over anymore or sleep in the same bed as him.

When you're together for such a long time, and you hurt each other, talking is no longer an option. You shouldn't hurt each other, so I decided it was best to leave the apartment while I was at work the next day. 

I packed my bags and went to a friend that also lived in the city. Angela was kind enough to take me in and told me many times that Graham was the wrong guy for me. 

"Graham," I sighed. "I'm not going back to that apartment with you." I tried to pull my arm back, but instead, he held me tighter and pulled me to him hard. My body crashed into his, and I let out a big sigh of surprise. 

He grabbed my head firmly with both his hands and forced a kiss. His lips crashed hard against mine; his lips were cold en trembling. This kiss meant nothing; it was desperation from his side and no affection from mine.

Flashbacks of my mom crossed my mind, how she would strike me, how the smell of alcohol would intoxicate the room, how her eyes narrowed with everything I said or did. My mind went blank, and I started to tremble.

He pulled back and grabbed my wrist firmly. "Don't speak back to me like that, Bella." I let out a small breath, not even noticing I was holding it since he planted his lips on mine. 

I looked to my toes, and I saw a tear falling on my feet, were these mine? I felt my cheek with the back of my right hand as Graham continued. "You're mine; you won't be James or anyone else's" my wet cheek felt hot against my hand. I closed my eyes for a second, trying to find the courage inside me. 

"What the hell." I felt a hard pull on my right arm and fell into someone's chest. Tears were now unfolding over my cheeks, and I felt my knees growing weaker. "What the fuck, bro?" I heard Graham reply. 

I grabbed the shirt of the body that was wrapped around me for safety. I tried not to let rather hear me cry and instead buried my face in this familiar scent. Trying to relax a little and stop crying. 

"Isabella, are you okay?" I looked up and met the emerald eyes of Edward. Somehow I saw the 16-year-old Edward with his dazzling eyes and cheeky smirk. Instead, I was facing a grown adult, a handsome figure with the most concerning look I ever saw. 

I took a step back, realizing that I should not seek comfort from Edward at this point. As a grown woman, I should have battled my own battles. The only reason I froze up was because of the memories of my mom suddenly drifting back to the present instead of keeping it buried in the past. 

"I'm fine, Edward" I wiped my tears off my cheek with the palms of my hand and turned my gaze to Graham. I finally stopped crying, and my emotion of fear was replaced with anger. 

"Listen up, Graham, if you ever decide to fuck me over like this again, I would totally rip up some parts of your body that you're really fond of," Edward snorted, and I saw him smile in the corner of my eyes.

Graham's jaw dropped, and he slowly took a step back. I had to make him believe I could stand up for myself and that I didn't need Edward to do it for me. 

I nodded to him in victory and walked out of the room. Leaving the two guys breathless behind me. As I got around the corner, I let out the first breath that I was holding in from the moment I started speaking. 

My mind did a little victory dance once I realized how much fierceness I showed. _Take that, Graham._ I licked my lips as I realized how dry my throat was.

I heard some muffled speech from the room I just left and decided to close myself off. I didn't want to know how Graham was sucking up to Edward or how Edward was interrogating Graham. I was glad the situation had settled down and that I finally was out of Graham's grasp. 

I had to wash up before I could actually confront the rest of the family again, so I took a quick break in the bathroom, looking at my wet face in the mirror and removing every bit of makeup that was spilled.

When I walked to the big garden, I noticed Tanya swaying to the music with a drink in her hand. Was she on the tipsy side already? Rosalie was chatting with her and was holding a glass of wine as well. Esmé and Alice were sitting down laughing, and Edward, Carlise, Jasper, and Emmett were looking at all the women around them, clearly amused at everyone doing their own thing.

Once everyone noticed me walking outside, all heads turned to me. I put on a smile and placed my hand next to my mouth. "How about a beer, brother of mine" I shouted to Emmett, who instantly smirked. 

"Coming right up, sis!" He paced to the big cooler that they had stalled outside. It wasn't a cold day, and out was maybe a bit chilly but still enjoyable.

I walked towards Esmé and Alice and sat down next to them. Both their bright smiles were even fresher than the whole autumn weather. I loved this and forgot time instantly when we started talking about Alice's wedding ideas. 

It probably was like an hour later when Graham walked outside, clearly had taken a nap. Graham met my gaze but turned to Tanya and walked up to her with a big smile, giving his greetings. 

Edward looked at the two exchanging their greetings and then looked at me. 'Are you okay?' he mouthed with a concerned look. I gently smiled and nodded as a reply. He replied my smile with his and nodded in confirmation before turning back to his dad, brother, and soon to be brother-in-law. 

Everyone was doing their thing. There was laughter, personal conversations, and from some sides even some obvious judging. Rosalie decided to join us when Graham pretty much only talked to Tanya.

"Is he always like this with other women?" she asked me with a weird smile. _This woman is a handful, isn't she?_ I lifted my shoulders and twitched my nose. How could I reply to that? 

"He's just who he is, I guess." I gulped in a big shot of beer and looked around. I met Edward's gaze, and I expected him to look away as soon as our eyes met, but he just stared straight at me. 

I usually didn't care for a man looking good, but Edward was seriously something else. The way his emerald eyes pierced deep into me felt I was being taken right there. His sex appeal was irresistible; he had this mysterious vibe going on that nobody could resist, and for a minute, I felt like not resisting at all. 

The wind played with his golden locks, and when he ran a hand through his hair and slowly licked his lips to damp them, I almost orgasmed. His eyebrow raised, and the corner of his lips went up high.

I turned back to the woman in front of me and grabbed the pillow next to me. I placed it on my tummy and held it firmly with my left hand as I put the bottle of beer back to my lips and quickly took a sip to cool off. Fuck me, this man is the next level. 

I bit my lip and slowly turned around again. Tanya was now next to him, giggling at something he said, and he laughed as well. His gaze shifted to me for a slight second, and I could see a hint of enjoyment in his eyes, which were somewhat teasing. 

His silliness in the way he did it made me smile or more like a giggle. I felt the couch firming down and looked next to me. Graham sat there with a big smile and put his hand on mine, resting on the pillow.

My smile instantly vanished as his presence took me by surprise. "What was that smile for Bella?" He asked with a serious tone but a big smile on his face.

"I'm just happy to be home, I guess." I lied through my teeth as I quickly took my hand away. Graham nodded and didn't ask any further questions, which was precisely what I was hoping for. I eyed Tanya, who quickly looked out when I met her gaze. 

I smirked as I caught her looking at us. She seemed jealous? What was there to be jealous about, though. She didn't keep in touch with Graham because she was still 'hung up on her high school sweetheart,' which to me just sounds silly if highschool was ten years ago.


End file.
